The Dickinson press. (Dickinson, Stark County, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1883-1927, 1887-07-16
A GREENlI0RN's SHOT,

L
There is this difference between the lion
and the ,iser i'll his native ha,,M;s: Tho. tiger
will always fight; the lion will often run,
away. When n hunter has wounded a tiger.
he can be dead sure that the beast is going to
make for him to secure revenge When he
has wounded lion, he can't he sure that tho
beast won't sneak off like a whipped dog.
was i'll Cape Colony, Africa, and out on the
edges OF the boer district, twenty years ago,
when tho lion had become alarmed Mt the evil
denccs of civilization, but was yet lcsitating
tc withdraw further north. Along the edges
OF the halallari desert, to the west of Croll-
stadt Potchefstrom and Rustenburg, tho
African lion once grew to his greatest size
and flourshed at his best He lived OIL the
TAT OF the land, the natives let him severely
alone, and there was no one to dispute that
he was monarch of all he SURVEYED.
A party of eight of lis had gone out from
Rustcnburg to the west being we'll provided
with horses, wagons, tents provisions and
servants, and after q journey of three days
we canpcd on the edge of Il stream in Il beau
tiful grove. That night heard wild lion
roar Tor the ilst time, and it was by no
means sweet music to my ears. A male lion
and his mate discovered our camp about mid
night, and FOR half an hour the" seemed de-
termlned toget hold of some of our 1--we stock.
But for our camp fires and the vclleys we
tired in the direction of the uuwclcome in
trulers, we should certainly have lost one of
the oxen, for the lions advanced within fifty
feet of TIE animals before they could be
frightened Off. 1t filled us with enthusiasm
to find that we had so. into the lion country,
and we were up and doing at an early hour
neSt morning. \ mile to the south of us was
virgin forest-lark, tangled, and dangerous.
Between that and the desert WAS {, srp of
BAD land about llnf q mile wide. There were
Il low punches of plants and bushes many
rocks, and the ground was si,rnklrl with
bunch grass. With the telescope wo could
see animals of the antelope Species feeding. on
this strip; but while | was using the glass
they suddenly became alarmed and ran away.
going out of sight 10 the south.
In the forest was the place to look for lions
NY tlay, or, at least, it was natural to believe
that they would retire to its cover during the
hours when wild beasts sleep. To the north
OF us the "bad lands continued on out of
sight, but the forest was more open, being, il
fact. succession of groves. We had two or
three natives with us of much experience in
lion bunting, and they gave us no encourage
ment to go out until toward sunlown One
OF the men had followed the stream back into
the forest for hall n mile, and there found a
large POOL at which it was evident that many
ANIMALS came to drink. Nothing worthy of
a shot would come there by daylight. AL
most every wild beast OF animal slakcs its
thirst Mt night, and only at night 1t does
not seem to be II matter of choice with them,
but t. law of nature. The s,,oor or trail of
the two lions which had paid IL, Il midnight
visit led to the south bctwcei, the forest and
desert, and, as 4 heavy dew was falling when
they went away the trnil could be followed Mt
aEallop. Two of our hunters rode to the
north to try and get II shot II. some hartbcests
Seen with the glass, another went I'D to lool,
around the pool and the remainder decided
not to move at all before afternoon | de-
cidsel for IL ride to the south, and left camp
with heavy breechoadng carbinc across
my saddle. 1t wasn't to be depended on for
O long Slot. but it would Int to kill and it
carried I" ball large enough to kill an Gle
plant
SOON found the bad laDd, so bal that 1
had to let my horse pick his way at a walk.
kept pretty close to the edge of the forest,
knowing | stood II better chance, of sighting
something, all was lul mile from camp
when my horse suddenly halted, shifted the
air i'll u suspicious manner, and stopped in his
trucks. From his trembling ! knew that he
was badly frightened, and l rose in my STIR
rups to look about for the cause. For a time
could 81" no living object, but after n while
my eyes lighted OH tawnv mass on the
sands Mt the roots of a large bush had a
held glass with me, and | no sooner brought
1t to bear than | made ont two lions They
were about forty rods away, and while the
NAL. lay OH his back with his feet in the air.
as you have sometimes seen a dog do, the
female was stretched out OH her side. Both
had their heads from me, and were evidently
asleep
had had no experience in lion hunting,
and did not know how to act Ny horse
showed Il Strong disposition to bolt, and dis
mounted and made him fast to the limb of a
fallen tree whicl. was half buried in the
SANS 1eHpe,tc1 lie would break away and
make for camp III Of n scrmmuge, but
he was OF liItle Use to ne Oh such bad ground
When l i::d finished with the horse l saw
that my carbinc was in order. pulled MY re-
volyer around within handy reach, and
walked forward to get a shot at the still
sleeping lions. There was nothing brave in
this. 1 was simply sreenhorn, and didn't
know better than to take the chances. l knew
l was good Shot, and Encw l had nerve,
and ] felt that could best the pair no matter
what course they took. 1t was very sultry
morning, ,hld the shade of the bushes was so
grateful that the lions had fallen into deep
sleep And why should they lave felt any
fears! LII all that region the lion was king
His roar sent every other beast to cover and
his srowl was II nlclace to be needed and re-
s!ected ! walkeGi up TO within thirty feet Of
the pair. and still they did not hear me uor
change position. l could not get such a SHOT
as u hunter desires but | was bent on having
one. The male was nearest to ME. He was
curled up so that he rcSembled great ball of
hair, a:tl | drew Il bead on tie center of the
mass, knowing that must hit him and that
the big bullet would give him a bad hurt
Now, what followed the shot filled me with
astonishment and wonder Quicker than a
flash the lion was on his feet, and frishtful
roar from his throat blended with the report
of tue gun. There was snarl from the
lioness, as she bounded into the air, and then,
without seeming 10 have seen me, or to have
ascertaned what had happened, the lion ran
down the strip of open ground, while his mate
broke for the woods. That lie was hard hit I
could tell by his gait. That she was as rat
tied rs rabbit was easy to sec by the way
she dragged her tail as she ran l had ex-
pected @ fight and was disappointed The
Ca4e poouueo over Iue broken SEounu 4oT
about eighty rods, and then went to cover in
bush, and after the female rushed into the
wool gave her no further attention. While
Ireaiizstl that u wounded lion was danger
GUS foe, tl.s. cowardly conduct of this fellow
in sinking away us he had done emboldened
me, anil started i'll pursuit l expected
every mn,;;rto srs him leave the bush and
bolt for the forest, but he had different plans.
When vas half way to him I turned out of
the direct course to cut him off in case he
wanted to retreat. l kept OH advancing
until was not more than ten rods from the
bush. He was so well hidden that 1 could
see nothing of linn, even when l searched
with the glass. a random shot ought to
scare hin, up, and fired for the center of the
bush.
1t ,ynsu't thrf,, seconds after pulled trig-